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Forums - Sony - Sony's Blatant Lie (About Other OS)

Frazzl on 08 April 2010

Bowspearer you've struck the nail on its head. All the Sony apologists here don't seem to get the point. It's not about how "popular" a feature is. It's simply about Sony removing an advertised feature from their product; a feature that may have been the motivating factor for a consumer purchasing their product (as was the case for you).

The PS3 unfortunately has a long history of losing features (just compare a 60 gig launch PS3 with the current slim versions), and prior to the release of the PS3 Slim, these losses were done without a commensurate price drop. This isn't the way to treat consumers. Unless you've been blinded by some misguided notion of brand name loyalty.



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Vetteman94 on 08 April 2010
Frazzl said:
Bowspearer you've struck the nail on its head. All the Sony apologists here don't seem to get the point. It's not about how "popular" a feature is. It's simply about Sony removing an advertised feature from their product; a feature that may have been the motivating factor for a consumer purchasing their product (as was the case for you).

The PS3 unfortunately has a long history of losing features (just compare a 60 gig launch PS3 with the current slim versions), and prior to the release of the PS3 Slim, these losses were done without a commensurate price drop. This isn't the way to treat consumers. Unless you've been blinded by some misguided notion of brand name loyalty.

Every single hardware revision has come with a price drop.  

20GB w/ hardware BC was $500
60GB w/ hardware BC was $600

40GB no BC  was $400
80GB w/ software BC was $500

80GB no BC $400
160GB no BC $500

120GB Slim $300
250GB Slim $350



bowspearer on 08 April 2010

The other thing to consider here is this. On the 1st of March, 3 days before we bought our PS3, I spoke to Sony Customer service who advised me that as long as I didn't get a slim, I'd have the other OS functionality. No mention was made of the plan to phase it out whatsoever.

With this update happening less than a 4 weeks after I purchased my console, I'm pretty sure this would be legally classed in my case as at the very least, a lack of disclosure and at most, a blatant bait and switch- both of which are illegal under Australian consumer protection laws.



perpride on 08 April 2010
superchunk said:
Damnyouall said:

 

So all this does is punish regular users who bought the launch model for a lot of money.

 

This was the part of the OP I stopped reading. Why? Why does the removal of 'other os'  do to 'regular users' in any way.

I didn't even consider putting Linux on the PS3 simply because its an inferior computer and why would I want to waste my time putting Linux on it? Even if that were not my opinion, how does the 'other os' feature help anyone who would be considered a regular user? It is not needed and it does not help you use any of the other features of the PS3.

It, like many original features, were just overkill and wasted resources.

So...you're a regular user and you don't use linux.

Therefore other regular users don't use linux?

So what am I, a goof?



Vetteman94 on 08 April 2010
bowspearer said:
The other thing to consider here is this. On the 1st of March, 3 days before we bought our PS3, I spoke to Sony Customer service who advised me that as long as I didn't get a slim, I'd have the other OS functionality. No mention was made of the plan to phase it out whatsoever.

With this update happening less than a 4 weeks after I purchased my console, I'm pretty sure this would be legally classed in my case as at the very least, a lack of disclosure and at most, a blatant bait and switch- both of which are illegal under Australian consumer protection laws.

Well they technically werent lying to you,  you could still have Other OS.  You just couldnt use the PSN.  



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Frazzl on 08 April 2010
Vetteman94 said:
Frazzl said:
Bowspearer you've struck the nail on its head. All the Sony apologists here don't seem to get the point. It's not about how "popular" a feature is. It's simply about Sony removing an advertised feature from their product; a feature that may have been the motivating factor for a consumer purchasing their product (as was the case for you).

The PS3 unfortunately has a long history of losing features (just compare a 60 gig launch PS3 with the current slim versions), and prior to the release of the PS3 Slim, these losses were done without a commensurate price drop. This isn't the way to treat consumers. Unless you've been blinded by some misguided notion of brand name loyalty.

Every single hardware revision has come with a price drop.  

20GB w/ hardware BC was $500
60GB w/ hardware BC was $600

40GB no BC  was $400
80GB w/ software BC was $500

80GB no BC $400
160GB no BC $500

120GB Slim $300
250GB Slim $350

Actually that's not accurate:

The 80 gig PS3 with only partial software PS2 BC was released in the US for $599 in 2007 (the same price as the original 60 gig BC PS3). The PAL regions got 60 gig PS3s with only partial software PS2 BC, and the release prices were USD $827 in the UK, $895 in Australia and $945 in New Zealand! Imagine being charged such a huge mark up for less features! If you don't believe me here are my sources:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/we.re-slashing-prices/sony-confirms-ps3-price+cut-80gb-bundle-276091.php (for the US 80 gig PS3)

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_launch#Release_data_and_pricing (for general pricing data).

 

Let's also not forget I was not talking about a price drop in general, but a commensurate price drop. Giving me 20 gigs extra along with Motorstorm (a game that I don't like or want) doesn't make up for removing hardware backwards compatibility, especially considering how much emphasis Kutaragi placed on hardware backwards compatibility, going as far as taking a jab at MS for not having it:

"The current Xbox will become antiquated once the new machine comes out this November. When that happens, the Xbox will be killing itself. The only way to avoid that is to support 100 percent compatibility from Xbox 360’s launch date, but Microsoft won't be able to commit to that. It's technically difficult." - (http://boardsus.playstation.com/t5/Electronic-Entertainment-Expo/Kutaragi-talks-PS3-backward-compatibility-disses-360-again/m-p/17934738 and http://www.gamesradar.com/ps2/playstation-2/news/our-10-favorite-ken-kutaragi-quotes/a-200704271134040000/g-20060331143728168090/c-1). 

 



Nomad Blue on 08 April 2010
bowspearer said:

I'm guessing all the "STFU U R TEH SUK" fanboys aren't affected by this decision in a small business context.

A couple of months ago my girlfriend and I updated her A/V equipment to a high-def home theatre system. When we considered the fact that the 40 inch LED TV could also double as a monitor for a media PC, we immediately thought of getting a media PC as my girlfriend is also starting up a photography business and using a monitor of that size would have been advantageous for her.

However when we looked around, it soon became clear that our cheapest option going the way of a media PC would be about $1000. At the same time we were toying with the idea of getting a high def gaming console as a possible purchase at some point as it seemed a fitting addition to the setup we have.

When we looked into it, it was in fact the we could get all of the above in the one console that made us choose the PS3. That wads about 3 weeks ago, just after the announcement that the PS3's other OS functionality would still be retained. I also spoke to Sony customer service who confirmed that the phat versions could indeed run Linux and how easy upgrading the hard drive was.

I want to make this clear- this was not going cheap on a supercomputer of cheating Sony out of games sales, it was a case of using it as exactly what Sony had advertised as both a business machine and entertainment machine. We wound up buying a 60Gb model pre-owned from GAME for $500, spending $100 on a new 500gb hard drive for it, buying a few games then and there and I've already racked up about 40 hours of game play on there while also spending hours configuring and learning Linux.

The plan was in the next month to buy Lightroom for Linux at which point it would have been right to go as her photo editing business machine.

Now Sony expects us to choose between one or the other in what amounts to a case of exortive theft, less than a month after buying it not only for personal reasons but also for business reasons. I'm only glad I hadn't blindly installed the update after we'd installed Linux and more importantly when my girlfriend had photos taken for her clients on there being processed- I don't even want to think about the damage that would have been done to my girlfriend's business in terms of revenue and reputation.

If you bought a slim, and aren't affected by this or don't care, good for you, but bear in mind that some of us have done the right thing here are affected as small business owners and are less than impressed by what amounts to extortive theft, not to mention millions of dollars in tax evasion where the console was marketed as a computer in order to dodge taxes in places like the EU...

I'm currently in the process of looking at returning it and not only will I never touch another Sony product again, but I will advise everyone I know not to touch a PS3 with a 10 foot bargepole after they've proven they're nothing more than a bunch of extortive thieving tax cheats who think that completely bending over and kornholing their customers is perfectly acceptable in the process of making a quick buck.

To put it simply, you should've bought a PC.  Who in their right mind uses a PS3 as their primary business machine?  Also, if you wanted to claim all the tax benefits from it, you shouldn't use it for entertainment/gaming purposes anyway, so just don't install the update and you're fine as you can still use it for it's primary purpose.



thranx on 08 April 2010
Nomad Blue said:
bowspearer said:

I'm guessing all the "STFU U R TEH SUK" fanboys aren't affected by this decision in a small business context.

A couple of months ago my girlfriend and I updated her A/V equipment to a high-def home theatre system. When we considered the fact that the 40 inch LED TV could also double as a monitor for a media PC, we immediately thought of getting a media PC as my girlfriend is also starting up a photography business and using a monitor of that size would have been advantageous for her.

However when we looked around, it soon became clear that our cheapest option going the way of a media PC would be about $1000. At the same time we were toying with the idea of getting a high def gaming console as a possible purchase at some point as it seemed a fitting addition to the setup we have.

When we looked into it, it was in fact the we could get all of the above in the one console that made us choose the PS3. That wads about 3 weeks ago, just after the announcement that the PS3's other OS functionality would still be retained. I also spoke to Sony customer service who confirmed that the phat versions could indeed run Linux and how easy upgrading the hard drive was.

I want to make this clear- this was not going cheap on a supercomputer of cheating Sony out of games sales, it was a case of using it as exactly what Sony had advertised as both a business machine and entertainment machine. We wound up buying a 60Gb model pre-owned from GAME for $500, spending $100 on a new 500gb hard drive for it, buying a few games then and there and I've already racked up about 40 hours of game play on there while also spending hours configuring and learning Linux.

The plan was in the next month to buy Lightroom for Linux at which point it would have been right to go as her photo editing business machine.

Now Sony expects us to choose between one or the other in what amounts to a case of exortive theft, less than a month after buying it not only for personal reasons but also for business reasons. I'm only glad I hadn't blindly installed the update after we'd installed Linux and more importantly when my girlfriend had photos taken for her clients on there being processed- I don't even want to think about the damage that would have been done to my girlfriend's business in terms of revenue and reputation.

If you bought a slim, and aren't affected by this or don't care, good for you, but bear in mind that some of us have done the right thing here are affected as small business owners and are less than impressed by what amounts to extortive theft, not to mention millions of dollars in tax evasion where the console was marketed as a computer in order to dodge taxes in places like the EU...

I'm currently in the process of looking at returning it and not only will I never touch another Sony product again, but I will advise everyone I know not to touch a PS3 with a 10 foot bargepole after they've proven they're nothing more than a bunch of extortive thieving tax cheats who think that completely bending over and kornholing their customers is perfectly acceptable in the process of making a quick buck.

To put it simply, you should've bought a PC.  Who in their right mind uses a PS3 as their primary business machine?  Also, if you wanted to claim all the tax benefits from it, you shouldn't use it for entertainment/gaming purposes anyway, so just don't install the update and you're fine as you can still use it for it's primary purpose.

Did you even read his post? It explains why he bought it in there. He did not get tax breaks for it, sony got less taxes on each machine by saying it was a computer in the EU (i'm not from the eu, but I assume it has to do with the VAT, which is similar to sales tax in the us i believe). Reread maybe?



bowspearer on 08 April 2010

Thanks for that Thranx. The other issue is that when we made the decision, there wasn't alot of startup capital there for additional equipment and so it was also a budgetary issue, not to mention that I live in Australia, not the EU, and I don't even know if the tax issue even applied here. Besides section 71 of the Australian Trade Practices Act states:

-The goods must be fit for their purpose. That is, they should do what they are supposed to do and be suitable for any purpose that you might have made known to the supplier.
-The goods must match the description you were given or the sample you chose from.
Furthermore theses conditions must not change within a reasonable amount of time. As per the statutory warranty.

 

Clearly the lesson here is to stear clear of Sony just as you would any other disreputable company.



thranx on 08 April 2010

you try contacting Sony, or the equivalent of the Better Business Bureau in Australia. you may be able to some finical restitution as what they did is probably against Australian consumer rights/laws. you just have to call them on it.